POPLARVILLE - The family of the late Ronald Tison Barr, a Purvis
native and former student at Pearl River Community College, has
established a $100,000 scholarship endowment in his name for nursing
students at PRCC.
     Barr, who died April 16, 2005, from leukemia, was a graduate of
Purvis High School in 1974. He attended PRCC for one year. The endowment
is designed to help students from Purvis first, then Lamar County, who
desire to enter the nursing profession.
     Family members say Ronald was known for living frugally and
investing his money wisely. His donation is no surprise to them.
     “This is one of the things that he had mentioned to mom (Betty
Mallow Barr) that would be a good idea,” said Nevil Barr Jr., Ronald’s
oldest brother. “Ronald was a real caring and giving person. He thought
nursing was a special profession and there were a lot of good nurses who
helped him during his illness.”
     Pearl River Community College President William Lewis said,
“Ronald’s generosity to the nursing program at PRCC is exemplary. We are
very pleased that he would choose to help students, who like he and
members of his family, grew up and lived in Lamar County.”
     Ronald Barr was an independent distributor for Little Debbie
products and a member of Purvis United Methodist Church.
     “The biggest thing with Ronald was he followed the Golden Rule better
than everybody I have ever known,” said Nevil Barr. “That was his
biggest quality. He treated everybody so good. He was a very caring
person. He collected arrowheads. I’ve walked many a time hunting
arrowheads with him in the woods. He had a special knack of spotting
them.”
     According to family members and friends, Ronald Barr was a big sports
fan. He played basketball at Purvis High. He looked forward to the high
school football season each year, and was a big supporter of his
brother, Nevil, head football coach at Oak Grove High School.
     “Ronald followed my career as a coach from Sumrall to Petal to Oak
Grove,” said Nevil Barr. “He and my other brother, mother and dad went
to just about every game. Every summer he would ask me about the players
I had coming back for the next season.
     “We lifted weights together, two or three days a week. Last June, he
started feeling real sluggish and losing weight. He went for a full
physical in August and that’s when they found out he was sick.”
     Mitch Deaver knew Ronald Barr since the mid-1970s. They were the best
of friends for the past 20 years. “After he was diagnosed with leukemia
last August, I learned that he had much more courage and determination
than I had ever realized,” said Deaver. “In the many hours he and I
spent together since he found out about his disease, I never saw him
hang his head or complain about his situation a single time. Ron kept
his chin up and his sense of humor until the very end and proved to be
an inspiration to everyone who was around him in his final eight months
of life. I miss him and always will.”
     Ronald Barr did some pipeline work before becoming an independent
distributor for Lance, and eventually Little Debbie. He adopted a modest
lifestyle.
     “Ronald worked all the time,” said Nevil Barr. “Whenever I went into
the stores he worked, the people there would ask about him. He was such
a kind person. He saved his money. He did real well in the stock
market.”
     Ronald Barr was preceded in death by his father, Nevil Barr Sr.
Survivors include his mom, Betty Barr of Purvis, and his twin brother,
David Barr, of Mobile, Ala.